Air translating apparatus



Nov. 18, 1952 KOCH 2,618,435

AIR TRANSLATING APPARATUS Filed Feb. 25. 1950 1/. 5 FIGS. /5

WITNESSES: INVENTOR 4; GUSTAV H. KOCH 6 2- I BY ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 18, 1952 AIR TRAN SLATING APPARATUS Gustav H. Koch, Springfield, Mass., assignor to Westinghouse Electric Corporation, East Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application February 25, 1950, Serial No. 146,353

8 Claims.

This invention relates to air circulating units, and relates more particularly to air circulating units of the radial discharge type.

Air circulating units of the radial discharge type usually include propeller fan blades rotating about vertical axes, legs for supporting the units from floors or other horizontal surfaces, inverted cones for turning the axially moving air radially outwardly as it is discharged from the units, and covers or tops for the units.

Another object of this invention is to simplify the construction of such an air circulating unit.

Another object of this invention is to reduce the manufacturing cost of such an air circulating unit.

One feature of this invention resides in supporting a guard cage of such a unit from a plurality of rods having hooks on their upper ends, which are clamped between the lower surface of the top and the upper surface of the cone, being thereby concealed from view.

Another feature of this invention resides in securing the top of such a unit to the cone with the hooks on the guard cage supporting rods clamped therebetween, with a single inconspicuous bolt.

Another feature of this invention resides in supporting the guard cage of such a unit, and the top and the cone clamped thereto, from outwardly turned, upper portions of the legs of the unit.

Another feature of this invention resides in attaching the guard cage of such a unit, and the top and the cone clamped thereto, on outwardly turned, upper ends of the legs of the unit, by means of the lower ends of supporting rods provided on the guard cage.

The invention will now be described with reference to the drawing, of which;

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an air circulating unit embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a perspective, exploded view of the unit; and

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along the lines IIIIII of Fig. 1.

The unit illustrated by the drawing includes the three, equally spaced, vertically extending, metal legs ID, the lower ends of which are fitted into recesses in the foot members ll of plastic material, and which are secured thereto by the screws [2. The centers of the legs H] are at the apices of an imaginary equilateral triangle having its surface in a plane parallel to a floor or other surface, on which the unit would be supported.

The legs l0 have punched out therefrom, the lugs I3 which extend perpendicular thereto, and which form assembly shelves, the lower surfaces of which the metal ring l4 contacts when it is assembled to the legs Ill by the clips I5 through which the lowermost of the screws l2 extend.

The metal rods 16, attached at their upper ends to the electric motor ll, have their lower ends attached as by spot welding, to the ring. M. The propeller blades is are attached to the rotary shaft of the motor H. The ring l4 and the rods l6 provide a support for the motor H.

The spaced, curved shroud rings l9 extend around the legs l6, and have their upper portions attached thereto, as by welding. The rings l9 encompass an axial passage extending from just below the upper ends of the foot members I l to just below the extreme upper portions of the blades I8, and are shaped to turn the air which tends to enter the axial passage radially, through an angle somewhat less than degrees, so that it is caused to move axially through that passage.

The upper ends of the legs l0 are turned radially outwardly so that they form the substantially horizontal shelves 20 having the circular apertures 2| therein, and which serve to support the assembled guard cage 22, the cone 23 and the top 24 as will be described in the following.

The guard cage 22 which extends around the outlet of the fan, consists of the spaced metal rings 25 which are attached as by spot welding, to the spaced, vertically extending, metal rods 25 and 21. The rods 26 have threaded lower ends which extend below the lowermost ring 25, and the rods 2'1, which are spaced midway between the rods 26, have lower ends which terminate flush with the lower surface of the lowermost ring 25.

The upper ends of the rods 26 and 21 are turned over to form hooks which extend inwardly of the rods and radially toward the axis of the unit.

The cone 23 has the cut-outs 30 in its upper edge which line up with the rods 26 and 21, and into which the hooks. on the rods extend when the cage 22 is placed around the cone.

The rods 26 line up with the apertures 2| in the shelves 20 at the upper ends of the legs I0, and extend therethrough when the cage 22 is placed on the shelves 2!], at which time the lowermost ring 25 rests on the upper surfaces of these shelves or on washers disposed therebetween.

The inner surface of the top 24 of the unit has the outer ends of the metal straps 3| attached thereto at equally spaced points around its center, as by welding. These straps are bowed downwardly at their centers which are flattened and overlap, and which have the aligned apertures 32 therein for receiving the bolt 33.

The apex of the cone 23 also has an aperture therein for receiving the bolt 33.

The cone 23, the cage 22 and the top 24 are assembled together as follows: The cage 22 is placed over and around the inverted cone with the hooks on the upper ends of the rods 26 and 21 in the cut-outs 30 in the upper edge of the cone. The ends of the hooks, when this is done, contact the upper surface of the cone. The top 24 is then placed on the cage 22 with its lower surface in contact with the upper surface of the hooks on the rods 26 and 27. The outer edge of the top is curved so that it conforms with, and fits snugly against, the upwardly curved portions of the hooks. through the apertures in the apex of the cone and in the straps 3! on the top, and screwed into the nut 34, which is welded to one of the straps 3|. This forces the hooks on the rods 25 and 21 tightly against the cone, and forces the top tightly against the hooks, thus firmly clamping the cage between the cone end and the top.

The assembled top, cage and cone are then placed on the shelves 20 on the upper ends of the legs l9, with the lower ends of the rods 26 extending through the aperture 2| in these shelves. The washers and the nuts 36 are then placed on the threaded lower ends of the rods 26, and the nuts screwed up thereon so as to pull the lowermost ring 25 tightly against the shelves 20.

The hooks on the rods 26 and 2?, and the bolt 33 provide a simple, inexpensive means for holding the assembled top, cage and cone together, and since concealed from view, do not detract from the attractive appearance of the assembly.

To assemble the fan motor unit within the axial passage formed by the rings IS, the assembly including the rings I9 is turned upside down and the fan motor unit brought down until the ring l4 rests on the lugs l3. Screws l2 are then driven through the clips I3. The clips may be of such dimension that the ring M is drawn upwardly and spaced slightly from the lugs I3, when the screws l2 are driven into place, so as to prevent rattling noises being produced by possible loose contact between the ring l4 and the lugs I 3. The air circulating unit is now completed and is turned right side up.

In operation, the rotation of the blades I8 by the motor ll, causes a reduction in pressure below the blades and at their tips, and a resulting inflow of air. The shroud rings [9 turn this air as it enters the axial passage within the unit, axially into that passage, and increase the volume of air delivered by the fan, and its efiiciency.

The air discharged from the blades is deflected by the cone 23 from its normal axial path, outwardly through the guard cage 22.

While I have shown my invention in but one form, it will be obvious to those skilled in the ar that it is not so limited, but is susceptible of various changes and modifications without departing from the spirit thereof.

What I claim is:

l. An air circulating unit comprising an inverted air deflecting cone, a guard cage around said cone, said cage comprising a plurality of rings and a plurality of rods attached to said rings and having hooks on corresponding ends extending over said cone, said cone being insertable into the interior of said cage through the end remote from said hooks, a top for the 4 unit seated upon said hooks, and means for clamping said cone and said top together with said hooks therebetween.

2. An air circulating unit comprising an air deflecting cone, a circular guard cage arranged concentrically around said cone, a plurality of rods attached to said cage and having inturned, radially extending hooks on corresponding ends extending over the edge of said cone, a top for the unit seated upon said hooks, and means including a bolt extending through the apex of said cone for clamping said cone and said top together with said hooks therebetween.

The bolt 33 is then inserted 3. An air circulating unit as claimed in claim 2 in which the edge of the cone has cut-outs for receiving the hooks.

4. An air' circulating unit comprising an inverted, air deflecting cone having substantially a vertically extending axis, a guard cage around said cone, a plurality of upwardly extending rods attached to said cage and having hooks on their upper ends extending over the upper edge of said cone, a top for the assembly seated upon said hooks, means for clamping said cone and said verted, air deflecting cone having substantially a vertical axis, a circular guard cage around and concentric with said cone, a plurality of upwardly extending rods attached to said cage and having inwardly extending radial hooks on their upper ends extending over the upper edge of said cone, a top for the unit seated upon said hooks, means including a bolt extending through the apex of said cone for clamping said cone and said top together with said hooks therebetween, a plurality of spaced, upwardly extending legs having radially outwardly turned upper ends forming shelves, and means for attaching the lower ends of said rods to said shelves.

6. An air circulating unit comprising an inverted, air deflecting cone having substantially a vertical axis, a circular guard cage around saidcone concentric therewith, the upper edge of said cone having space-d cut-outs therein, a plurality of upwardly extending rods attached to said cage and having hooks extending radially inwardly, on their upper ends, said hooks extending in said cut-outs over the lower edges thereof, a top for the unit seated upon said hooks, means including a bolt extending through the apex of said cone for clamping said cone and said top together with said hooks therebetween, and a plurality of spaced, upwardly extending legs having radially, outwardly turned upper ends forming shelves, said shelves having apertures therein, said rods having threaded lower ends extending through said apertures and having nuts threaded thereon for attaching said cage and the top and cover clamped thereto, to said shelves.

7. An air circulating unit comprising an inverted, air deflecting cone having substantially a vertical axis, a circular guard cage around and concentric with said cone, said cage comprising a plurality of vertically spaced wire rings and a plurality of vertically extending rods attached to said rings by fusion of metal, the

upper ends of said rods being bent radially inwardly to form hooks extending over the upper edge of said cone, said cone being insertable from the lower end of said cage into the interior thereof and into engagement with the lower sides of said hooks, a top for the unit seated upon said hooks, and means including a bolt extending through the apex of said cone for clamping said. cone and said top together with said hooks therebetween.

8. An air circulating unit comprising an inverted, air deflecting cone having substantially a vertical axis, a circular guard cage around and concentric withsaid cone, said cage comprising a plurality of vertically spaced Wire rings and a plurality of vertical rods attached to said rings by fusion of metal and having their lower ends projecting downwardly below the lowermost ring, a top for the unit disposed above said cone,

means for attaching said cone, said cage and said 20 top together, a, plurality of air deflecting shroud rings disposed in superposed relation below said cage and in alignment therewith, a plurality of GUSTAV H. KOCH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date D. 120,033 Kisling Apr. 16, 1940 2,027,687 Fuller Jan. 14, 1936 2,294,399 Fugal Sept. 1, 1942 2,310,772 Fugal Feb. 9, 1943 2,331,056 Spear Oct. 5, 1943 

